The Sentinel from Carlisle, Pennsylvania • 4

A4 The Sentinel, Carlisle, Monday, October 6, 2003 iAmy mtr. IT man claims 'Loulou' is his He wants to "interview" the parrot to I -'J see if it will whistle the "Andy Griffith theme song. A Duane Duncan is shown with the Pennsylvania 4-H horse judging team at a national contest in 1 975. 2 FYI Freedom of Information Act to obtain the adoption records, which listed Weaver as the owner. DeGroff says Weaver never answered the phone when he called, so he drove to Cumberland County.

He says there was no answer when he knocked on Weaver's front door, but DeGroff says he saw a bird through the window. He says he felt a connection. "She seemed like she tried to communicate with me," DeGroff says. "She seemed to recognize me." But he was unable to speak with the bird and thus was unable to determine if it could whistle the Andy Griffith tune. Frustrated, he returned home.

Who is Toby? The birds are all virtually identical, with a gray body and red tail, making it exceedingly difficult to tell one African gray from another. But DeGroff says Loulou does have one distinct characteristic: a pink feather under the left wingpit. Sue Morrow, a Pennsylvania parrot breeder who examined the bird at Weaver's behest, found no such feather. She acknowledges that the feather could have been plucked but says there's another reason she doesn't think the bird is Loulou. She says one of the first things a talking bird learns is its own name, and the only things she heard Weaver's bird say were 'Toby" and "Shut up, Toby." DeGroff says Loulou never said her name.

Nor did she say 'Toby." Weaver declined to speak with a Washington Post reporter who visited her house. "We have no comment," she said. "We're not going to fight this in the paper." ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -An Alexandria man claims that a Pennsylvania woman adopted his lost parrot and that he could prove it if given a chance to question the bird in a court proceeding. Loulou, an 11-year-old African gray parrot, flew out of David DeGroff 's apartment on April 12 after a guest who wasn't wearing her glasses accidentally walked into the screen door leading to the balcony.

On May 1 1 Nina Weaver of Newburg in Cumberland County adopted an African gray from the D.C. Animal Shelter. DeGroff, convinced the bird is Loulou, filed a lawsuit seeking an opportunity to depose the parrot. He is seeking $15,000 for pain and suffering if the bird turns out to be Loulou. A federal judge last week dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that it was filed in the wrong court.

DeGroff said he plans to refile the lawsuit against Weaver and the Humane Society, which ran the animal shelter, in D.C. Superior Court. He says Loulou's vocal repertoire includes whistling the theme song to "The Andy Griffith Show" and saying the phrase "Daddy's gotta go to work." Owner gets records Immediately after Loulou left, DeGroff says, he started calling every animal agency in the area, including the D.C. Animal Shelter. He and his roommate papered their neighborhood with fliers about the missing bird.

DeGroff says he again called the D.C. shelter in mid-May and a receptionist told him an African gray had passed through the shelter and recently had been adopted. DeGroff used the Continued from A1 He was followed by W. Irvin Gait from 1929-55, and John F. Fogel from 1955-67.

Duncan left Adams County and came to Cumberland County to take the top job after Fogel died following an August 1967 automobile collision. He was thrilled with the promotion because "I looked around and thought Cumberland was one of the best agricultural counties." In his new job "I had an opportunity to continue on with the 4-H program as well as dairy," he says He also worked with wool growers and livestock programs. "You try to help people help A retirement party for Duane and Donna Duncan will be held Nov. 2 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Penn Township Fire Hall, Huntsdale.

A program will begin at 3 p.m. Reservations must be made by Oct. 20. To make reservations, contact Laura Watts at 240-6500 or lwattspsu.edu. A lot of times what you've done is instill an idea." He gives credit to "the people of Cumberland County" for many successful extension programs during his tenure.

Aspers woman to replace Duncan dairy farmer Sheldon Brymesser says. "He's been a very big part of Cumberland County agriculture." Brymesser, a former president of the extension board, has known Duncan for his entire tenure in the county. "Duane has been very helpful and extension has been very helpful," he says. "He's a very thorough, precise type person." Brymesser says Duncan put in a lot of time, often going beyond the call of duty. "One thing we enjoyed was when we took the cow to the elementary school for education and promotion," Brymesser says.

"That was an interesting program." Duncan introduced that program in 1974. He estimates more than 75,000 students and staff had the opportunity to learn about dairy farming through the take-a-cow-to-school program. In addition to his county duties, Duncan has been active in the Pennsylvania Association of County Agricultural Agents and the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. He was vice president and president of PACAA in the 1970s and was NACAA secretary from 1995-98. "My wife and I have attended the last 40 national meetings," he says.

Duncan says has no set plans after retirement. "I'll play it by ear. We'll probably stay in the community." He may begin pulling together information about ag organizations that have operated for the last 100 years, including young farmers groups and Atlantic Breeders. "It's a part of history that's going to be forgotten pretty quickly," he says. "It would be neat to capture some of that before it's forgotten." Duncan plans to continue as treasurer of the state 4-H horse group and will probably follow through with a county 4-H Farm Safety Quiz Bowl team that will compete at the 2004 Farm Show.

Duncan worked closely with the 4-H dairy club and Cumberland County 4-H Light Horse and Pony Club. Sandy Long, who has been a horse club leader since 1965, says Duncan has "looked out for us and helped us along. He's always pushing for members. We're going to miss him dreadfully." The club has a mounted drill team that performs three or four times in the summer and at the Pennsylvania Farm Show each year. Changes noted Duncan has seen a lot of changes in his 45 years in extension and his 36 years in Cumberland County.

"There is more specialization as far as extension is concerned," he says, "and less opportunity to work one-on-one. There are surely more places to get information than there were when I first started in extension." Farming has changed, too. "Some nice farms aren't farms anymore," he says. The farming community is hurting now, he says. "If agriculture was more profitable, we'd have less people selling their farms." He says Cumberland County boasted about 490 dairy farms when he arrived.

"Now there's probably not more than 250," he says, and more than 100 of those are owned by members of "Plain" sects Old Order Mennonite, conservative Mennonite and Amish families. "We have tried awfully hard to meet that public with our farm safety program," he says. Many of the more than 100 youth who annually attend the Farm Safety Day at Cumberland County Ag Expo are from Plain sect families. Programs blossomed Under his direction, countless other programs have blossomed in the county. "I can't say enough for Duane," Monroe Township Odds and Ends Woman eats 23 sandwiches CORINTH, Miss.

(AP) A 107-pound Virginia woman ate her way to a championship after she out-gulped seven males in the World Champion Barbecue Eating Contest. Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, of Alexandria, swallowed 23 barbecue sandwiches in 12 minutes to claim the title, $2,000 and the honor of wearing the champion's belt for a year. "Sonya is the only one who can actually fit into the belt," joked David Baer, one of the announcers and director of business development for the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Spectators were stunned by the performance of the petite winner, who never paused Friday night as she stuffed down bite after bite of wet barbecue sandwich. Thomas entered the contest with a recent victory in the World Champion Chicken Taco Eating Contest where she swallowed 43 tacos in 1 1 minutes.

She also holds the female world record for eating 24 hot dogs in 12 minutes and for eating 68 hard-boiled eggs in 8 minutes. Nina Redding of Aspers will replace Duane Duncan as Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Service director. "Nina brings personal experience and professional under- standing and dedication to the total extension program," says Michelle Rodgers, director of Penn State Cooperative Extension's Capital Region. "Her strong organizational and leadership skills will continue the traditions and pioneer new initiatives" in Cumberland County, the region and the state." Redding joined the service in 1988 as a family living extension agent in Adams County after six years of teaching family and consumer sciences at schools in Hanover, Gettysburg, Biglerville and Ithaca, N.Y. From 1983 to 1987 she was also co-owner of Nirus Hollow Farm, where she managed the health of a small Holstein dairy herd, handled financial records and assisted with milking and feeding.

Redding received a bachelor's i tib irrlit Hi jlimm in Nina Redding degree in home economics education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1982 and a master's degree in training and development from Penn State Harrisburg in 2000. She has won numerous awards and honors, including several state and national media awards. Mullen riOHUCID IT MID INIIITAiNHINT System It mm -fit Wi I ff 4T AX vx if Continued from A1 Susan received care in hospitals from New York City to Washington, D.C., to the Carlisle area. Her medications were changed numerous times and she had difficulty finding a therapist with whom she could work. One of her better phases was when she was under the care of a University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist, who didn't charge her for several years because she could not afford to pay him.

At the time of her death, she was working with a therapist in Chambersburg under welfare insurance. "He was more of a social worker than a doctor," Manwar-ing says, noting such care providers are typically underpaid. In her view, the most qualified professionals are in the private sector and this means mentally ill persons who can't afford their fees have less chance of recovering. One of Manwaring's biggest frustrations is that she couldn't have Susan committed into a hospital when she felt inpatient services were crucial. Commitment controversy Involuntary commitment procedures are perhaps the most contested issue among mental health advocates.

Taylor Andrews, Cumberland County's chief public defender, says there are "real advocates on each side of the issue. I do believe we need to change our commitment laws not to make it easy but to make it easier than it is now to commit someone for care. The laws were written in the 1 970s," long before important discoveries about the workings of the brain. Also known as 302s, involuntary commitments can only be made after an attorney proves in a hearing that a person is a "clear and present danger" to his- or herself or others. Forced medication is almost never permitted.

Kevin Chronister, an intensive case management supervisor at Stevens Mental Health Center in South Middleton Township, says the commitment law "frustrates families because everyone in town may know the person needs help, but mental health won't step in." Involuntary commitment "is not a punishment," adds Shan-nyn Trostle, a resource coordinator supervisor at the center. "It's a necessity when it's the only way to keep a person or community safe." Manwaring says families should be able to commit loved ones if they and doctors can provide valid reasons. "Mom and dad can't just send her to the hospital because they're tired of her," she says; "but with a psychiatrist's approval involuntary commitments and forced medical treatment are sometimes necessary." Andrews, who is also president of the local chapter of National Alliance for the Men- tally 111, says people with severe mental illnesses have an impaired self-awareness and may not believe they're mentally ill. "Just as someone might think that they're Napoleon, they might think everyone else is mentally ill and they're not," he says. Involuntary commitments are "sometimes necessary because you're talking to that brain that does not always see the problem," agrees Chronister, but they're "always a last resort." Case managers will not typically commit clients he says, but neighbors, family members and police officers might.

Andrews says, "A lot of the consumer groups think there should never be involuntary commitments. But they're comprised of consumers who are managing their disorders well. There are others that they can't speak for." Civil rights dilemma But Silvia Herman says "not all consumers think people should never be involuntarily committed. There are certainly folks on the other side." Herman, director of mental health services for Cumberland-Perry Mental HealthMental Retardation, says, involuntary commitment "is a very serious decision. The reality is, when someone enters the involuntary mental health commitment process, you're stripping them of their civil rights." Forced commitments also could cause patients to distance themselves from the mental health system, says Shelley Bishop, executive director of Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers Association.

She says they would be less likely to commit themselves voluntarily after having been forced into a hospital. "In a lot of cases, it could be avoided if other support systems were available in the community," Bishop adds. Herman also says communities need to understand "the mental health system is critically a voluntary system of care. We can discuss it, lay it out and work with them, but people have a right to say aye or nay." Involuntary medical treatment is also unfair in some situations, she adds, noting, "it's easy to sit down and say they should take their medicine, but they can have significant side effects." Trostle says patients will often take medications for six or seven months and decide "they feel better and don't need their medication. So, they stop because they say the medication makes them feel tired, gain weight or stop acting like their old selves." Herman expects "some of these issues will iron out" when the mental health system improves.

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